Dr. Crosetti was quietly cynical about the state of his country and his world. While he publically toed the party line, privately his pragmatism with his daughter when she sought his advice. He encouraged Annarita to report that a gaming store called The Gladiator was not an ideological threat.

Unfortunately, both Crosetti's were wrong. The Gladiator was shut down by the Security Police for spreading capitalist ideas. Eduardo Caruso, a clerk in the store, escaped ahead of the Police, and went to Gianfranco Mazzilli, a regular at The Gladiator, for help. Gianfranco in turn brought Caruso to Annarita, who in turn brought him to her father. Caruso shared the truth with the Crosettis and Gianfranco. He was from another timeline. The Gladiator had been established by Crosstime Traffic in Milan to quietly and subtly spread ideas of capitalism in their world. Dr. Crosetti agreed to shelter Caruso until he could get to San Marino, where Crosstime Traffic had one other store called The Three Sixes.

In August, 2097, the Crosettis and the Mazzillis went to Rimini for a vacation. Despite his misgivings, Dr. Crosetti permitted Annarita to accompany Gianfranco and Caruso to San Marino. However, they discovered that The Three Sixes had already been seized by the Security Police, who were using the store as a trap. Learning of this, Dr. Crosetti again gave his reluctant permission to allow Annarita and Gianfranco to tell Cristoforo Mazzilli that The Three Sixes was purveying capitalist ideas. Cristoforo in turn went to the Sammarinesse authorities. In the meantime, Eduardo and two other stranded Crosstimers, Rocco and Giulio were in the store, waiting for chaos to ensue so they could sneak into the basement and transport home. Unfortunately, they were noticed despite the destraction. Eduardo took Gianfranco "hostage", and the Crosstimers, Eduardo, fled home.

Things were tense in the shared apartment. As far as the Mazzillis were concerned, the Crosettis' cousin had stolen their only son. The Crosettis had no choice but to wait and hope that Gianfranco would return. When he did, relations returned to normal, and life went on.